Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 13 text:

The philosophy of Yeshiva University rejects Gordon ' s credo. To be a functioning, contributing member of society, a Jew need not sacrifice his heritage; on the contrary, the goal of the Yeshiva graduate is to incorporate his Jewishncss with everything he does and have it permeate all facets of his life. Granted, today ' s America differs greatly from 19th century Russia; yet like Gordon in his time, we are confronted with a society from which assimilation beckons temptingly. Our reac- tion to this beckoning must be one of renewed and expanded commitment.

Page 12 text:

Be a Jew in your home and a man in the streets, was the rallying cry of Judah Leib Gordon, the poet of East European Haskalah, who felt that this approach would lead to a general acceptance of Jewish par- ticipation in Russian society. He himself, though, sad- ly discovered that his formula would not work; those young people who had espoused this doctrine aban- doned the ways of Judaism to graze in foreign fields, severing all ties with the faith of their parents and ancestors.

Page 14 text:

We see ourselves as part of a long chain of Yeshiva graduates who will contribute in our various ways to American and Israeli life, both as Jews and as profes- sionals. We will be doctors, but not ordinary ones. Or- dinary physicians are not produced by a Pre-Medical society whose annual journal devotes an entire section to Halachik issues in medicine. Nor do average doc- tors come from a Biology department chaired by a Talmudic scholar who has written and spoken exten- sively on Jewish medical ethics. A special type of doc- tor emerges from a college which supplements medical knowledge with Talmudic wisdom. We will be doctors, but of the kind Rabbi Zalman Posner describes — doctors who can treat a patient, but can recite Tehillim for him as well. I